Thursday, February 16, 2012

Three New Patterns!

This is the time of the year when I am working hard knitting. It's a tough job, but somebody's gotta do it. I have been working especially hard on a few new designs and have printed up 3 new ones. Let's take them one at a time, shall we?

The first is called "Alice Bee." It is named for my friend Alice, who loves stripes; and as I was putting the colors together, I was thinking of her as well. Alice Bee is shown in the photo as a cowl, but I've included instructions in the pattern for a scarf and a shawl.

The next one, "Kimmie," is named for my business partner, Kim. She was trying to figure out a way to use Zing String, a carry-along yarn, in some knitted item other than a scarf. Zing String has beads attached to a thin thread, which you hold with another, heavier yarn. Kim thought of a hat. I told her that the problem was that it was knitted in the round, all the beads would go to the back. So she suggested using reverse stockinette with some rows of stockinette, and sketched out what she was thinking. "You design it, work out all the numbers, and name it after me," she said. Okay then.

Kimmie uses slip stitches to make the stockinette rows pop. We have many kits available with this pattern at Stitch Your Art Out. It was fun matching the beads to the yarn!

And finally, it's a project I've been wanting to write up for years: The pattern for a beginner's Fair-Isle headband. I call it "First Fair Isle."

I spent a lot of time working on this one, not so much with the Fair-Isle pattern, but more with the fit. I was tired of headbands with ribbing that stuck out funny. So this one has those issues worked out. In the pattern, I also give suggestions for color combinations so that you're sure to have a headband that looks great every time, no matter which colors you use. I also give details on how and why to block Fair Isle. It's a great little stash buster--or even a way to accumulate more stash! (Did I mention that I own a yarn shop?)

All of these patterns are available on Ravelry or at Stitch Your Art Out. (I'm happy to wholesale via either Ravelry or directly with paper copies as well.) I have more designs in the works, which I hope to release over the next month or two. I'm trying to keep my writing caught up to my knitting, but somehow that isn't quite working. (It seems that it's more fun to knit than to write about what you knit. Who knew?)